Politics in Plate Mail: Learning to compete

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Wednesday February 10, 2010 · 1:31 PM PST

2010/02/10 · 13:31

Time for another edition of "Politics in Plate Mail," where I talk about gaming and politics. Check out Wreck List if you are interested in joining a fun World of Warcraft guild populated by Daily Kos members. Today's post is not about World of Warcraft for a change, however...

I'm not a serious competitive gamer. Oh, I like playing against other people well enough. I won some trophies in high school debate and chess, I've had some enjoyable online victories in real-time strategy games like Starcraft, I enjoy a little Team Fortress 2 now and again, and I even enjoyed sampling the Warcraft arena. But I like to play a games only as long as they're fun, and the guys who play in professional tournaments are out for blood. I kind of admire what they do, but that's just not me.

Politics is a blood sport, and there are a few lessons I think Democrats could learn a few things from people on the competitive gaming circuit. And I'll go over these things... below the fold.

Kazim

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Friday February 05, 2010 · 1:53 PM PST

2010/02/05 · 13:53

Hello, Wreck List. Since some commenters on my last diary complained about not receiving fair warning about a Warcraft post that they didn't want to read, I'm going to start putting up the Wreck List ad in my introductions.

Wreck List is the Daily Kos World of Warcraft guild. We are Horde-side on the Garrosh server. To join, roll up a character on Garrosh and when you log in type

/who wreck list

and contact (via in-game mail or /whisper) our official Welcome Wagon, Papagenia. Yes, you have to be Horde. No, you don't have to be hardcore - casuals, PvPers, and people that just want to hang out on guild chat are all welcome.

In today's diary I'll be expanding on my earlier theme: antisocial players are more detrimental to group survival than unskilled players. And hopefully, I'll be able to tie that into Ayn Rand worshippers and teabaggers. Hope you'll stick around even if you're not a gamer.

Continues below.

Kazim

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Thursday February 04, 2010 · 2:41 PM PST

2010/02/04 · 14:41

Welcome back to Politics in Plate Mail, in which I (eventually) apply lessons from World of Warcraft to real world situations.

Patch 3.3 was released almost two months ago. That was the one where they finally replaced the "looking for group" tool that has been badly broken since the game started.

I'm not alone in saying that this was a significant advance for the game. As is probably obvious from my post on tanking, doing dungeons has long been one of my favorite in-game activities. At low levels it was nearly impossible to find a group, especially in low level content while leveling up. Now, you are automatically matched with a team of players in the appropriate role, and your teammates may be drawn from one of several servers.

Suddenly I'm able to play lots of dungeons with all kinds of strangers, regardless of my class. It's a fascinating social experiment, seeing how people interact with each other when they have no connection or attachment to others in the group.

(Continues below)

Kazim

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Wednesday February 03, 2010 · 11:20 AM PST

2010/02/03 · 11:20

Another shout out to Daily Kos' Wreck List guild. My death knight reached level 68 last night.

I've decided that I'd like to unofficially name this diary "Politics in Plate Mail." If there is a way to officially change it on the page, I hope someone will let me know.

For a couple of years now, my favorite activity in World of Warcraft has been tanking. I want people who don't play WoW to get something out of this diary also, so let me explain what I mean. A tank is that idiot in a group battle who runs up to monsters and yells "booga booga booga" at them, inducing them to punch him in the face repeatedly.

Needless to say, this isn't for everyone. Every group needs a tank, but most players aren't enthusiastic about doing the job, which has led to a noticeable shortage of tanks in the game. That is precisely why I, liberal minded fellow that I am, decided to dedicate much of my game time to tanking.

Continued below the fold.

Kazim

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 02, 2010 · 10:51 AM PST

2010/02/02 · 10:51

Hi, my name's Russell and this is my first diary. (Hi, Russell!) I'm a Texas software developer with a Master's from UT. I'm also a gamer, and an outspoken liberal atheist.

I've been a Daily Kos reader for many years, but I rarely comment and have never posted a diary yet. I participate on a few message boards and am a contributor to three blogs. As such, I had a hard time justifying participation in another forum, especially one with hundreds of comments on most prominent posts.

I am the occasional host of a popular public access show on atheism, as well as an avid World of Warcraft player. These two hobbies intersected when a fan of the show who also plays WoW and reads dkos invited me to join Wreck List, the dkos Warcraft guild. So far, from playing occasionally and lurking in guild chat, I've enjoyed what I see. Warcraft AND politics together? Two of my favorite things -- why, it's like peanut butter and chocolate!

Continues below the fold...

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Politics in Plate Mail: Learning to compete

Politics in Plate Mail: With friends like these...

Politics in Plate Mail: Social dynamics of random dungeons

Politics in Plate Mail: Why I Tank

Political gamesmanship